Friday, October 7, 2011
Friday, July 8, 2011
The Men of Vinexpo, France’s Biannual Wine Bonanza
By Paige Donner
Read Complete Article on Black Book Magazine
A biannual affair, France’s monumental, just-wrapped Vinexpo Bordeaux has, once again, firmly established itself as the world’s leading exhibition for the wine industry. A few numbers: there were approximately 50,000 attendees at the Bordeaux Convention Center; overall wine consumption between now and 2014 will reach a whopping 2.729 billion cases of wine, most of that light and sparkling; the US, China, and Russia are the countries primarily fueling this growth; in 2009 alone, this retail market already represented $389 billion. Indeed, people really enjoy knocking back a glass of the good stuff.
Kelly McAuliffe, Master Sommelier
While women buy more than half of the wine that ends up on your table, according to Wine Enthusiast, men still dominate the somewhat fusty, very-serious-despite-the-intoxication Vinexpo, which isn’t to say that there aren’t a slew of younger, more internationally-minded budding sommeliers to enliven the crowd. We spoke with 10 of the expos most insider-y insiders – from Baron Philippe de Rothschild to the Mayor of Bordeaux – to get the scoop on what’s new in the world of the vine.
Adrien Laurent, Baron Philippe de Rothschild
Nevermind that three bottles of Château Lafite Rothschild sold not too long ago at Hong Kong’s Sotheby’s auction house for a record $232,692 - each! Adrien Laurent, Baron Philippe de Rothschild’s U.S. and Mexico Export Manager, doesn’t rely on pretention when discussing his house’s eminent wines. In fact, if you can get him to talk about the history of the Rothschild family and how Baron Philippe turned Bordeaux’s wine world upside down back in the 1920s, when he was a mere 20 years old, you’ll really see the Oeno-lover take off his gloves. I’m just praying that the taste of ‘98 Château Mouton Rothschild that he poured me (and that I spit out) won’t be something he remembers me by. “I never spit out Mouton Rothschild,” he confides. I must add, in the interest of full-disclosure, that he did graciously pour me another splash of this legendary cuvée, which I fully savored.
Pascal Boyé, Nicolas Feuillatte
Boyé can be authentically described as a kind of dashing figure in a romantic novel. The French champagne executive lives in NYC, spends his weekends in Aspen, and takes business meetings in Epernay and Bordeaux. “We are the youngest of the big champagne houses,” he explains. Started a mere 36 years ago in Epernay, France, the heart of AOC Champagne, the house prides itself on its modernity. “We are the pyramid of the Louvre,” says Boyé. The number one champagne house in France is number 5 in the U.S. Within the next year, according to Mr. Pascal Boyé, Feuillatte’s North and South America Export Manager, the world’s third largest champagne house will move to the number four position in the U.S.’ 22 million bottle-a-year market.
Alain Juppé, Mayor of Bordeaux
There isn’t a resident in Bordeaux and its environs who doesn’t sing Mr. Juppe’s praises. He took over as Mayor of Bordeaux in 2006, and has since carried out remarkable beautification and restoration projects. The modern, efficient tram system that whisks you around the mid-sized city is another thing to write home about.
Read Complete Article on Black Book Magazine
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Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Paris's Best Cooking Schools For The Hungry Tourist
By Paige Donner
Read Complete Article on Black Book Magazine
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Ecole Ritz Escoffier - 15 Place Vendôme, 75001
If you have a lunch hour to spend at a cooking school in Paris, Ecole Ritz Escoffier is your gig. First of all, it’s effortlessly easy to find, at 15 Place Vendôme. It’s posh, it’s excellent and the classes are given in both English and French.
Ecole Ritz Escoffier kitchens are located in the basement of Ritz Paris Vendôme Hotel, right next to the hotel’s working kitchens where they create all of the meals for the entire hotel. It is also, as legend goes, the inspiration for the kitchens seen in the celebrated Pixar film, Ratatouille.
But in spite of all the international outreach and friendliness (the school is also partnered with the Tokyo School, Vantana) it remains very much an iconic bastion of French Culinary Tradition. Executive Head Chef is the larger-than-life Michel Roth, the ninth Executive Chef the hotel has known in its 110 years of existence. His teaching team at the Escoffier Ecole is both accomplished and easygoing.
My class was scheduled for a Thursday afternoon from 1:00 – 2:00 pm. On the menu was:... Read Complete Article on Black Book Magazine.
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